Quote:
Originally Posted by RLSmi
Yes, the pendulum regarding removing tonsils seems to swing on about a 30-year cycle. When I was a child, it was stylish to have a tonsillectomy when sore throats were frequent. It was said that the operation was much easier on you before adulthood, so it was better to get it done as a child. At least in the US, in the 60s, 70s and 80s, the swing was toward leaving them in as they are important contributors to the lymphoid part of the immune system. Antibiotics were (and still are) routinely depended on to knock out strep.
It has been known for many years that the "scarlet fever" that can accompany a severe strep throat was a sign that the immune system was attacking other tissues of the host, especially heart valves. The result was often valve damage resulting in fibrosis and compromised cardiac function.
Now the tonsillectomy pendulum is swinging back to the "maybe a good idea" side as the bacteria develop resistance to current antibiotics and there are few new ones in the pipeline. I read an article a couple of days ago advocating tonsilectomy in adults when sore throats are frequent, so that fewer antibiotics are used. For the same reason, in pediatrics these days, it is considered a no-no to give antibiotics to babies with sore ears as a first line approach, since most of them will be able to recover just fine without them in a few days.
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Yep, these medical fashion trends really kill me (in more ways than one
). The problem is that, as of this date, we still don't know what's right. For instance, my father-in-law, who's in his mid 70's, was recently diagnosed with Meniere Syndrome (vertigo) and the doc said it was caused by untreated ear infections during childhood! We had our Civil War going on then and certainly no antibiotics.